3- 


LBSS  MONEY 


^ 


A  Study 
of  the  Rural  Schools  of 
Boone  County 
Illinois 


BETTER 

RURAL  SCHOOLS  FOR 

LESS  MONEY 


A  Study 
of  the  Rural  Schools  of 
Boone  County 
Illinois 


By 

H.  S.  HICKS 

February,  1925 


FOREWORD 


BOUT  one-half  of  all  the  elementary  school  children  in 
Illinois,  outside  of  Cook  County,  are  enrolled  in  the 
One-Room  School  Districts  of  the  State.  Their  educa- 
tional welfare  is  a  matter  of  state-wide  interest.  It  pre- 
sents the  most  important  legislative  problem  in  Illinois 

today,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  the  child  and  the  heavily  burdened 

rural  tax  payer. 

The  child  who  is  fortunate  enough  to  reside  in  the  rural  districts 
of  Illinois  in  the  vicinity  of  a  good  rural  school  is  indeed  fortunate. 
No  better  environment  can  be  found  for  educational  development. 
Removed  from  the  distractions  of  moving  pictures,  theatres,  baseball 
games,  and  pool  halls,  and  in  close  contact  with  green  fields  and  run- 
ning brooks  the  country  boy  and  girl,  surrounded  by  few  distrac- 
tions, have  an  unequaled  opportunity  for  acquiring  a  good  common- 
school  education.  Two  things  only  are  necessary,  a  competent  teacher 
and  enough  pupils  enrolled  in  the  school  to  make  a  healthy  compe- 
tition in  class  room  work. 

This  study  has  been  made  by  one  who  in  his  boyhood  days  en- 
joyed these  advantages  and  is  still  firm  in  the  conviction  that  the 
one-room  rural  school  has  not  outlived  its  usefulness  as  a  part  of  our 
Educational  System. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  made  to  Mr.  Homer  Hall,  County 
Superintendent  of  Schools  of  Boone  County;  Mr.  William  Bowley, 
County  Clerk  of  Boone  County; and  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Harvey,  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  in  Belvidere,  for  their  generous  assistance  in 
collecting  the  data  upon  which  this  study  is  based. 

H.  S.  HICKS. 


The  Rural  Schools  of  Boone  County,  Illinois 

From  a  bulletin  recently  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Wash' 
ington,  the  following  paragraph  is  quoted: 


The  One-Teacher  School  the  Cinderella  of  Our 
Educational  System 

"The  one-teacher  school  in  the  United  States  ap- 
pears in  comparison  with  the  best  graded  schools  like 
Cinderella  sitting  among  the  ashes.  The  building  in 
which  it  is  housed  is  usually  the  meanest  type  of  school 
building;  the  supplies  furnished  rural  children  are  the 
scantiest;  the  school  term  the  shortest;  the  rural  teachers 
represent  the  most  inexperienced,  the  least  adequately 
trained  and  the  least  skilled  group  of  teachers;  community 
support  of  the  school  is  usually  less  enthusiastic  than  the 
support  accorded  any  other  type  of  school  in  the  State. 
The  one-teacher  school,  like  Cinderella,  has  inherent 
possibilities  of  development,  but  the  State  must  play  the 
fairy  Godmother  and  wave  fairy  wands  in  the  shape  of 
wise  legislation  before  it  realizes  its  educational  possi- 
bilities, before  rural  children  are  given  educational  ad- 
vantages equal  to  those  of  urban  children." 


For  the  purpose  of  disclosing  such  facts  as  will  show  whether  the  above 
indictment  is  true  or  false  this  study  of  the  one-room  schools  of  Boone 
County  has  been  made.  Several  reasons  appeal  to  the  writer  as  making 
Boone  County  a  desirable  County  to  study.  It  is  one  of  the  smallest  coun- 
ties  in  Illinois  in  point  of  population  and  area,  being  approximately  twelve 
miles  wide  and  twenty-four  miles  long  and  containing  288  square  miles. 
It  has  a  population  of  15,322  and  like  most  of  the  other  agricultural  coun- 
ties of  the  State  had  less  people  in  1920  than  it  had  in  1910.  Its  population 
is  very  evenly  divided  between  city  and  country.  The  1920  census  shows 
that  there  were  7,518  rural  inhabitants  and  7,804  urban.  Boone  County 
contains  1,325  farms;  the  land  is  fertile  and  productive  and  like  most  of 
the  other  agricultural  counties  of  Illinois,  about  one-half  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation are  tenant  farmers.  The  census  of  1920  shows  that  there  were  697 
&o 

[3] 

*0 


farms  operated  by  owners  and  615  farms  operated  by  tenant  and  the  bal' 
ance  operated  by  farm  managers. 

In  every  way  Boone  County  is  fairly  typical  of  the  average  agricultural 
County  in  central  and  northern  Illinois,  and  the  rural  school  conditions  are 
no  doubt  about  the  same  in  this  County  as  they  are  throughout  northern 
and  central  Illinois.  Its  elementary  schools,  like  all  other  counties  of  Illinois, 
can  be  divided  into  two  classes: 

(1)  The  oneToom  district  school  with  one  teacher  and  all  pupils  under 
that  teacher's  supervision. 

(2)  The  grade  school  containing  two  or  more  teachers  where  the  pupils 
are  divided  according  to  age  and  educational  advancement. 

Boone  County  has  five  grade  school  districts  with  a  total  enrollment  of 
1251  as  follows: 

Belvidere    941  Poplar  Grove 87 

Capron 100  Garden  Prairie 62 

Caledonia 61 

Forty-two  teachers  are  employed  in  the  grade  schools  of  the  County. 

There  are  sixty-one  one-room  districts  having  an  enrollment  varying 
from  33  in  the  largest  school  to  3  in  the  smallest. 

The  total  enrollment  in  the  61  rural  districts  is  1082. 

The  average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  in  the  grade  schools  of  the 
County  is  30  and  in  the  rural  schools,  17. 


The  Elementary  Teachers  of  Boone  County 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  the  relative  ages,  salaries,  teaching  exper* 
ience  and  teachers'  training  of  the  two  groups  of  teachers  parallel  tables 
are  shown. 

All  of  the  teachers  in  both  grade  and  rural  schools  hold  certificates  for 
teaching.  These  certificates  are  of  two  kinds,  known  as  first  grade  and 
second  grade.  Of  61  rural  teachers,  2  hold  first  grade  certificates,  and  of 
the  42  grade  teachers  29  hold  first  grade  certificates;  59  of  the  rural  teachers 
have  second  grade  certificates,  and  13  of  the  grade  teachers  have  second 
grade  certificates. 


[4] 


Age  of  Teachers 

Grade  Schools  Rural  Schools 


20  years 3 

21  years 1 

22  years 3 

23  years 3 

24  years 4 

25  years 1 

27  years 1 

29  years 1 

3 1  years 2 

33  years 1 

34  years 2 

3  5  years 2 

36  years 1 

37  years 2 

38  years 2 

43  years 1 

44  years 1 

45  years 2 

47  years 1 

48  years 2 

49  years 1 

50  years 1 

57  years 1 

59  years 1 

65  years 1 

Average  Age 
34  years 


9 
10 
16 

4 


18  years 

19  years.  . 

20  years.  . 

21  years.  . 

22  years.  . 

23  years. . 

24  years. . 

25  years. . 

29  years.  . 

30  years. . 

3 1  years . . 
33  years. . 
3  5  years . . 
36  years.  . 
48  years.  . 


Average  Age 
21  years 


Salary  of  Teachers 


Grade  Schools 

Rural  Schools 

P  855.00.  .. 

.    2 

$  600.00.  ..      2 

900.00... 

.    4 

637.50...      2 

1000.00... 

.    5 

640.00...      1 

1025.00... 

.    2 

675.00...      1 

1035.00... 

.    1 

680.00...      2 

1050.00... 

.    5 

720.00...    11 

1075.00... 

.    l 

765.00...      1 

1100.00... 

.    4 

807.50...      1 

1125.00... 

.    5 

810.00...      7 

1150.00... 

.    4 

855.00...      5 

1200.00... 

.    2 

900.00...    15 

1215.00... 

.    1 

945.00...      3 

1225.00... 

.    2 

952.00...      1 

1250.00... 

.    1 

990.00...      4 

1300.00... 

.    1 

999.00...      1 

1425.00... 

.    2 

1035.00...      1 
1080.00...      1 
1125.00...      1 
1170.00...      1 

Average  Salary 

Average  Salary 

$1090.00 

$840.00 

Teaching  Experience 

Grade  Schools           Rural  Schools 
None 5      None 1 

1  year ....  2 
1 1/2  years ...    1 

2  years.  .  .    3 

3  years. .  .    1 
3 1/?  years ...   2 


3 1/2  years 
4      years 
5 
6 

7 
8 


years.  .  .    2 


years.  . 
years.  . 
years , 


10  years.  .  .  i 
10|/2  years.  ..  1 
12      years...    2 


None. . 

1  year. . . 

2  years . . 

3  years.  . 

4  years .  . 

5  years . . 

6  years .  . 

7  years .  . 
10  years.  . 

12  years. . 

1 3  years .  . 
16  years.  . 


13 

11 

15 

8 

4 
3 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 


years 
years, 
years . 
years, 
years . 


1 9   y.ears 
24   years 


25 
38 
40 

47 


3 

.  1 

.  1 

.  2 

.  4 

.  1 

.  1 

.  1 


years 
years . . .    1 
years.  .  .    1 
years.  .  .    1 
Average 
11.3  years 


Average 
2.8  years 


Teachers'  Training 

Grade  Schools 

3  years  Normal, 


2  years  Normal 1 

1  year  Normal 

33  weeks  Normal 

25  weeks  Normal 

24  weeks  Normal 

1 5  weeks  Normal 

6  weeks  Normal 2 

Total  number  of  teachers  who 
have  attended  Normal  Schools.  .  27 

Rural  Schools 

1  year  Normal 2 

20  weeks  Normal 2 

1 2  weeks  Normal 2 

8  weeks  Normal 2 

6  weeks  Normal 5 

Total  number  of  teachers  who 
have  attended  Normal  Schools.  .  12 


Average  Normal  Training 

Grade  School  teachers 1  year 

Rural  School  teachers 3  weeks 


[5] 


These  figures  show  two  things  conclusively: 

(First)  That  the  rural  teachers  receive  less  pay  than  the  grade  school 
teachers.    (Second)  That  they  are  younger  and  more  inexperienced. 

In  making  this  comparison  no  reflection  is  intended  on  any  rural  teacher 
in  Boone  County.  No  doubt,  among  the  group  of  61  teachers,  there  are 
many  who  have  marked  teaching  ability  and  are  doing  good  work,  but  as 
a  group  they  do  not  seem  to  average  up  to  the  standards  of  the  city  school 
teachers. 

The  essential  thing  in  making  any  school  a  good  school  is  a  skilled 
teacher  and  the  things  that  make  a  skilled  teacher  are:  (1)  Native  teaching 
ability;  (2)  Professional  training;  (3)  Experience  under  intelligent  super- 
vision. 

In  Boone  County  the  rural  teachers,  as  compared  with  the  grade  teach- 
ers, are  lacking  in  all  of  these  factors.  The  result  which  must  flow  from 
this  situation  is  that  the  rural  children  of  Boone  County  have  poorer  ele- 
mentary schooling  than  the  town  and  city  children  of  the  County. 

In  other  words,  there  is  no  equality  of  educational  opportunity  existing 
between  the  rural  children  and  the  urban  children  of  Boone  County. 


(TW^T) 


The  Financial  Organization  of  the  Rural  Schools 

When  one  first  sees  a  map  of  an  Illinois  County  divided  into  rural 
school  districts  his  curosity  is  usually  aroused  as  to  how  the  districts  became 
organised, into  such  irregular,  misshapen,  geographical  monstrosities.  Occas- 
sionally  one  will  discover  districts  containing  less  than  three  sections  of 
land  while  often  in  the  same  County  other  one-room  districts  may  be  found 
containing  ten  or  twelve  sections.  Assessed  valuation  and  tax  rates  vary 
as  greatly  as  do  the  area  of  the  districts.  In  Boone  County,  District  1 3  has 
an  assessed  valuation  of  $41,832  and  a  school  tax  rate  of  $1.96,  while  Dis- 
trict 58  has  an  assessed  valuation  of  $195,388  and  a  school  tax  rate  of  32 
cents.  Where  assessed  valuations  are  low,  tax  rates  are  usually  high,  and 
where  valuations  are  high,  tax  rates  are  correspondingly  low. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  sixty-one  school  districts  of  Boone  County 
showing  assessed  valuation  and  enrollment  and  illustrates  the  wide  varia- 
tion in  financial  ability  of  the  various  districts  to  maintain  a  school: 

[6] 


BOONE  COUNTY  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS 


Dlst.  No.  Ass'd  Val.                Enrollment 

*18  $  33,095.00  15 

13  41,832.00  13 

75  47,813.00  11 

30  52,321.00  15 

76  57,884.00  12 

64  59,908.00  13 

70  63,388.00  10 

20  64,822.00  11 

52  67,106.00  12 

77  69,508.00  14 

36  72,015.00  6 

*68  72,015.00  21 

15  72,223.00  11 

16  72,713.00  8 

*38  75,187.00  20 

44  76,943.00  20 

74  80,123.00  29 

60  81,739.00  12 

11  81,939.00  18 

21  83,730.00  17 

66  85,773.00  14 

12  87,891.00  28 

63  89,134.00  10 

*17  90,468.00  27 

71  90,720.00  29 

4  90,887.00  21 

6  93,871.00  14 

45  95,222.00  21 

55    96,306.00  8 

53  99,702.00  23 

*8  100,244.00  22 

41  100,314.00  13 

37  103,504.00  16 

25  104,999.00  10 

9  109,375.00  17 

78  109,900.00  17 

34  110,241.00  18 

5  112,110.00  25 

62  114,346.00  17 

14  •  116,781.00  22 

80  120,391.00  11 

26  121,686.00  22 

51  123,367.00  22 

2  125,698.00  21 

50  128,273.00  23 

72  1 32,847.00  16 

47  133,902.00  33 

32  137,531.00  29 

61  142,745.00  10 

43  143,910.00  24 

29  144,882.00  19 

35  146,768.00  17 

22  146,864.00  3 

54    150,506.00  17 

65    152,193.00  30 

73    1 54,042.00  22 

1    155,031.00  22 

59    161,722.00  22 

42    162,945.00  21 

79    166,152.00  19 

58    195,388.00  21 

•These  districts  are  partially  in  Boone  County  and  partially  in  adjoining-  county. 
In  each  case  the  assessed  valuation  in  Boone  County  is  given.  In  District  No.  7 
the  school  house  is  in  McHenry  County  but  the  district  has  an  assessed  value  of 
$21, 114. 00  in  Boone  County. 

[8] 


The  total  assessed  value  of  the  61  one-room  districts  and  parts  of  dis- 
tricts  in  Boone  County  is  $6,395,949. 

Each  of  these  districts  has  a  board  of  three  directors,  making  a  total 
of  183  school  officials  for  the  61  districts. 

Fifteen  of  the  districts  have  an  attendance  of  12  or  less  pupils,  and 
the  average  enrollment  for  the  sixty-one  districts  is  17  pupils  per  school. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  any  rural  community  composed  of  one-half 
tenant  farmers  has  a  shifting  population.  This  frequent  changing  of  loca- 
tion by  tenant  farmers  has  a  pronounced  effect  on  the  district  school  en- 
rollment. The  first  of  March  of  each  year  always  produces  gains  in  enroll- 
ment in  some  districts  and  corresponding  losses  in  others,  but  usually  it 
makes  but  little  difference  to  the  taxpayer  who  produces  the  money  neces- 
sary to  maintain  the  school.  A  school  which  drops  to  an  enrollment  of  only 
two  or  three  pupils  costs  as  much  to  maintain  as  a  school  which  has  an 
enrollment  of  25  or  30.  Because  of  these  facts  it  necessarily  follows  that 
in  a  system  of  rural  education  organized  on  the  Illinois  plan,  a  great  eco- 
nomic waste  is  constantly  going  on  which  would  not  occur  under  a  different 
scheme  of  organization. 

To  maintain  a  one-room  school  with  only  two  or  three  pupils  is  not 
only  unfair  to  the  children  but  to  the  taxpayer  as  well. 

The  tax  rate  last  year  in  the  61  rural  districts  varied  from  32  cents  on 
the  One  Hundred  Dollars  assessed  valuation  in  District  58  to  $2.00  on  the 
One  Hundred  Dollars  assessed  valuation  in  District  No.  20. 

The  average  tax  rate  for  the  61  districts  was  $1.13. 

Summary 

The  Rural  School  situation  of  Boone  County  can  therefore  be  summar- 
ized as  follows: 

Total  Number  of  Schools 61 

Total  Assessed  Valuation  of  all  One-Room  Districts $6,395,949 

Average  Tax  Rate $  1.13 

Total  Enrollment 1082 

Average  Enrollment 17 

Average  Teacher  Salary $      840.00 

Average  Age  of  Teachers 21  years 

Average  Teaching  Experience 2.8  years 

Average  Normal  School  Training 3  weeks 

Number  of  Schools  having  12  or  less  Pupils 15 

Number  of  Schools  having  more  than  12  Pupils 46 

A  Plan  of  Reorganization 

There  is  now  pending  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  a  bill  known  as  Senate 
Bill  No.  50,  which  provides  a  plan  of  reorganization  of  the  one-room 
district  schools  of  the  State.   The  essential  provisions  of  the  bill  are: 

(1)  That  for  purposes  of  administration  and  taxation  all  one-room 
school  districts  of  each  county  shall  be  combined  into  one  school  district. 

[9] 


(3)  The  County  Superintendent  of  schools  is  made  Ex-Officio  Secre' 
tary  of  the  County  Board  of  Education. 

(4)  A  uniform  tax  rate  is  levied  throughout  the  district. 

(5)  Supervision  of  rural  teachers  is  provided  for. 

(6)  No  school  of  less  than  12  pupils  can  be  maintained  unless  with 
the  consent  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

(7)  The  County  Board  of  Education  may  provided  transportation 
for  pupils  in  cases  where  in  their  judgment  it  is  necessary. 

The  application  of  this  plan  to  the  rural  schools  of  Boone  County  will 
now  be  made. 

If  all  one-room  districts  of  Boone  County  should  be  united  into  a 
single  district  for  purposes  of  administration  and  taxation  the  County  Dis' 
trict  would  have  an  assessed  valuation  of  $6,395,949. 


Application  of  Senate  Bill  50  to  Boone  County 

If  all  schools  now  being  conducted  with  twelve  or  less  pupils  were 
closed  and  the  pupils  distributed  in  the  remaining  schools  it  would  give 
the  46  schools  which  would  be  conducted  an  average  enrollment  of  24 
pupils  each. 

The  average  salary  now  being  paid  in  Boone  County  for  rural  teachers 
is  $840  and  the  average  school  year  is  less  than  9  months.  By  increasing 
the  salary  of  teachers  to  an  average  of  $900  per  year  and  the  school  year 
to  9  months  it  would  require  the  sum  of  $900  per  school  for  salary  of 
teacher  and  to  this  should  be  added  the  sum  of  $150  per  school  for  fuel 
and  supplies,  making  a  cost  of  $1050  per  school  or  the  total  sum  of  $48,300 
for  the  year  for  the  46  schools. 

All  school  districts  in  the  State  of  Illinois  receive  financial  aid  from 
the  State  from  what  is  known  as  the  State  School  Fund.  Under  the  present 
law  Boone  County  rural  schools  will  receive  about  $6,500  from  the  State 
per  year.  Deducting  the  $6,500  which  would  be  paid  by  the  State  from 
the  $48,300  required  to  run  the  schools  would  leave  a  balance  of  $41,800 
to  be  raised  by  local  taxation.  A  tax  rate  of  66  cents  on  the  $100  assessed 
valuation  would  yield  over  $42,000  or  more  than  enough  money  when 
combined  with  the  amount  received  from  the  State  to  finance  the  46  schools 
for  one  year. 

The  tax  rates  last  year  in  the  61  rural  districts  varied  from  32  cents  on 
the  one  hundred  dollars  assessed  valuation  in  District  58  to  $2.00  on  the 
one  hundred  dollars  assessed  valuation  in  District  20.  The  average  tax  rate 
for  the  61  districts  was  $1.13. 

There  are  54  districts  in  the  County  which  had  a  tax  rate  last  year  of 
over  66  cents,  and  seven  districts  where  the  tax  rates  were  lower  than  66 
cents. 

The  following  table  shows  the  increase  and  decrease  in  tax  rates  in  all 
districts  if  the  county  should  be  reorganised  along  the  lines  indicated: 

[10] 


Districts  Having  a  Tax  Rate  of  Less  Than  66  Cents 


St.  No. 

Tax  Bate 

Increas 

58 

..   $ 

.32 

$   .34 

29  .... 

.43 

.23 

35 

.56 
.59 

.10 

26 

.07 

1 

.60 

.        .06 

72 

.62 

.04 

22 

.63 

.        .03 

Districts  Having 

a  Tax  Rate  of  Over  66  Cents 

st.  No. 

Tax  Bate        Decrease 

Dist.  No. 

Tax  Bate 

Deere  as 

54 

$  .68 $ 

.02 

51    

$1.16 

$   .50 

59 

.70 

.04 

45    

.      1.18 

.52 

79   .... 

.74 

.08 

8 

1.18 

.52 

50 

.80 

.14 

37    

1.19 

.53 

61    

.80 

.14 

71    

1.24 

.58 

62 

.81    

.15 

4 

1.24 

.58 

47    .... 

.84 

.18 

11    

1.25    

.59 

80  .... 

.85 

.19 

36 

1.29 

.62 

43    .... 

.86 

.20 

21    

1.29 

.63 

6 

.88 

.22 

17   .... 

1.30 

.64 

55 

.91    

.25 

53    

1.34 

.68 

63   .... 

.92 

.26 

15 

1.42 

.67 

34   .... 

.93 

.27 

16 

1.43    

.77 

78 

.93   

.27 

12 

1.46 

.80 

9 

.94 

.28 

64 

.      1.46 

.80 

65   .... 

.95   

.29 

38 

1.47 

.81 

42 

.95 

.29 

44 

1.47 

.81 

25 

.98 

.32 

16 

1.48    

.82 

73    .... 

1.00 

.34 

60   .... 

1.50 

.84 

14 

1.01    

.35 

68 

1.65 

.99 

74  .... 

1.02 

.36 

18 

1.66 

1.00 

41    .... 

1.02 

.36 

77 

1.77    .... 

1.11 

2 

1.06 

.40 

75    .... 

1.93 

1.27 

66  .... 

1.07 

.41 

30 

1.96 

1.30 

32 

1.12 

.46 

13 

1.96 

1.30 

70  .... 

1.13    

.47 

52 

1.98    

1.32 

5 

1.14 

.48 

20 

2.00   .... 

1.44 

Supervision  and  Transportation 

There  is  probably  no  single  thing  that  can  happen  to  the  one-room 
schools  of  Illinois  which  would  do  as  much  to  raise  their  efficiency  as  the 
introduction  of  supervision  for  rural  teachers.  Most  of  the  teachers  in  the 
rural  schools  of  Illinois  are  young  boys  and  girls  only  recently  out  of 
school.  Often  they  are  struggling  with  conditions  which  would  discourage 
experienced  and  trained  teachers.  Of  all  the  teachers  in  Illinois  the  rural 
teachers  most  needs  the  sympathetic  aid  of  an  experienced  supervising 
teacher. 

Recognizing  this  fact  the  pending  bill  provides  for  the  employment  of 
one  supervising  teacher  for  every  25  teachers  employed  in  the  district.  This 
would,  of  course,  entail  additional  expense.  In  Boone  County  two  super- 
vising teachers  would  be  required  and  their  salary  and  traveling  expenses 
would  probably  amount  to  about  $3,000  per  year. 

[11] 


To  raise  this  amount  an  additional  5  cents  would  have  to  be  added  to 
the  proposed  tax  rate. 

The  only  other  item  of  expense  which  might  be  found  necessary  is  the 
transportation  of  pupils.  The  plan  would  require  the  closing  of  1 5  schools 
in  the  county.  These  15  schools  have  an  enrollment  of  145  pupils.  Sending 
these  pupils  to  the  schools  of  adjoining  districts  might  in  some  cases  make 
it  necessary  to  provided  transportation. 

Assuming  that  this  cost  would  not  exceed  an  average  of  $20.00  per 
pupil  per  year  the  total  expenditure  for  transportation  would  be  less  than 
$3,000  which  would  require  possibly  the  addition  of  another  5  cents 
to  the  tax  rate. 

If  then,  both  supervision  and  transportation  should  be  provided  the 
rate  would  probably  be  76  cents  instead  of  66  cents.  This  addition,  how- 
ever, would  make  only  a  slight  difference  in  the  foregoing  computations 
on  gain  and  loss.  With  this  addition  to  the  tax  rate  ten  districts  instead 
of  seven,  would  find  the  tax  rate  increased  over  what  they  are  now  paying 
and  51  districts  would  have  tax  reductions  and  all  would  have  better  and 
more  efficient  schools. 

Rural  children  are  entitled  to  something  better  than  they  are  now  get- 
ting in  the  way  of  instruction  in  the  fundamentals  of  English  learning. 
The  interests  of  the  State  demand  that  there  be  better  equalization  of 
educational  advantages  between  the  rural  boy  and  girl  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  city  boy  and  girl  on  the  other.  Common  fairness  demands  that  an 
equalization  of  the  tax  burden  for  school  maintenance  among  rural  tax  pay- 
ers be  established  by  law.  These  changes  can  and  doubtless  will  be  brought 
about  but  in  doing  so  there  should  first  be  created  in  the  minds  of  the 
rural  citizen  the  belief  that  a  system  which  is  hallowed  by  age  and  en- 
deared by  sentiment  can  be  improved  by  change  and  that  such  modification 
will  be  to  the  advantage  of  both  parent  and  child. 


[12] 


